Merits of Emotion

Summary: Akiko's only interest is learning everything she can aboard the starship Enterprise. But when a certain Vulcan seems to take an interest in her, she'd rather start teaching him the merits of emotion.

Chapter 1-Enterprising Young Women

Chapter 1: Enterprising
Young Women

“How
can you settle for being Assistant Engineer?!” Jacqueline wondered, a girl with
black, short curly hair and wide jade eyes as she looked to the Japanese girl
next to her. “If I were you, I’d shoot for Chief
Engineer.”

“You
know I don’t like giving orders, Jacque,” the shorter girl next to her replied,
her slick black hair pulled into a loose ponytail, straight bangs hanging just
above her eyebrows which dark brown eyes sparkled beneath.

“Oh,
but you certainly don’t mind being
walked all over, do you, Akiko?” Jacqueline retorted as the two girls climbed
into a shuttle, still in their Cadet uniforms.

“I’m
not going to be ‘walked all over’,” Akiko replied, finding a seat next to the
window, Jacqueline sitting next to her.
“I’m told Mr. Scott is a brilliant Chief Engineer. I could learn a lot from him. You know, he figured out how to beam onto a
ship that was going at warp!”

“Yes,
yes, I heard,” Jacqueline waved off.
“You should be more ambitious. Engineering
isn’t a big deal. Now, piloting, that’s a whole other beast, and in my opinion, the best one. I’m gonna pilot the Enterprise
some day, and show that Captain Kirk a thing or two.”

“What
is it about him that gets you all
steamed up?” Akiko wondered, honestly as the shuttle began to start.

“He’s
a lucky little brat that made captain way
too easy,” Jacqueline muttered, slouching back in her seat. “It’s not fair. He cheated
on the Kobayashi Maru!”

“I’m
pretty sure he made up for that by saving Earth from being sucked into a black
hole,” Akiko reminded her, calmly.

“Oh,
bull,” Jacqueline blurted. “Give me a ship like the Enterprise
and I could save the planet.”

“You
get back to me when that happens,” Akiko smiled, earning a sneer from her
friend.

“If
you’re so into science, why aren’t you trying for a spot on the bridge?”
Jacqueline shot back. “You could shadow
Commander Spock, couldn’t you? He’s the
Science Officer, after all.”

“I
don’t want to be a bother,” Akiko replied, leaning on her window. “If I’m up on the bridge I really won’t be
able to do much by way of helping. In
engineering, there’s plenty to
do. And there’s science involved in
that, too.”

“Still,
you need a better position than assistant engineer.”

“This
is all pretty big talk coming from the girl who’s shadowing a helmsman,” Akiko shot back with a smirk.

“I
doubt the Board will let you do that.
They’ll find a better place for you.
Starfleet’s always building bigger and better ships, you know?”

“There
won’t be a ship like the Enterprise,”
Jacqueline replied and Akiko smiled at the admiration in her voice. “She’ll last forever. Others will come and go, but the Enterprise
will remain.”

“You
haven’t even seen her yet, and you’re star struck,” Akiko smirked.

“I’ve
seen her,” Jacqueline admitted, then leaned out the window to gaze at the stars
they were floating through, making Akiko do the same just as the Enterprise
came into view. “She’s a thing of
beauty.”

“You
get too poetic about ships,” Akiko giggled.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you wanna do more than just pilot the Enterprise.”

“Like
what? Captain her?”

Akiko
nodded but Jacqueline shook her head.

“I’m
not worthy,” she replied. “Neither is
that twerp, Kirk.”

“Be
careful who you say that around,” Akiko warned in a hushed tone. “Some of these cadets consider him admirable.”

“Well
they’re all fools,” Jacqueline snapped in the same hushed tone.

Akiko
shook her head in exasperation. She knew
better than to try talking her friend out of hating someone when she’d made up
her mind about them. Hopefully, she
wouldn’t cause too much trouble on the bridge with her feelings toward the
captain. She also hoped the captain
would show her that he wasn’t as bad as she thought he was. She looked out her window at the Enterprise
and had to agree with Jacqueline, she was
a thing of beauty.

Once
inside her, and the shuttle came to a stop, she felt her heart jump in
excitement. She couldn’t wait to get to
engineering and learn about all the workings.
The gears and gyros that made the ship run. She admitted that her true fascination was in
science, but she was also interested in learning all sorts of things, including
the workings of a ship. Who knew, if she
couldn’t make Science Officer, she had Engineer to fall back on.

Hurrying
out of the shuttle, Jacqueline could barely keep up with her as she hurried out
of the hangar bay and into the lift, her friend just making it in before the
doors shut.

“Did
you even get your room number, Sparky?” Jacqueline asked, using her nickname
for her friend.

“I’ve
had it in my head since we got our assignments,” Akiko replied as the lift
began to move to take them to the deck their quarters were located on.

“Well,
aren’t we excited?” Jacqueline smirked and Akiko only nodded, vigorously. “You’d think you were meeting someone for a
date.”

“I
just can’t wait to get to engineering!” she beamed as the lift stopped.

“Well,
I’ll see you at lunch, ok?” Jacqueline smiled, patting her friends shoulder as
the lift doors opened and they walked out.

“Sure
thing!” Akiko grinned and turned to find her room.

Once
there she hurriedly changed into her uniform of engineering red long-sleeved shirt
with a silver band at the end of each sleeve, black pants and tall black boots and
hurried down the halls toward the lift to take her to engineering. When the lift stopped, and the doors opened,
she ran out in such excitement that she didn’t watch where she was going and
rammed into someone, sending them both to the ground. She shook the rattling from her head and
heard a groan ahead of her, making her stare wide eyes up at the man she’d
rammed into.

“Sir!”
she gasped, shooting to her feet and scrambling to help the man she saw was the
Chief Engineer. “I’m so sorry, Sir! I wasn’t watching where I was going! I didn’t mean—!”

“It’s
alright, lass,” he replied in a Scottish accent, waving her off as he
stood. “Nothin’ hurt but me bum.” Akiko couldn’t help but giggle when he smiled
at her. “Now, you must be my new assistant,
eh?”

“I
am indeed, Sir,” she nodded, standing at attention with a smile and holding out
her hand. “Lieutenant Akiko Suzuki, at
your service.”

“Whew,
that’s a mouthful,” he smirked, shaking her hand. “I don’t think I’ll be able to pronounce that
properly, lass. I can barely get our
helmsman’s first name right.”

“That’ll
work,” he grinned, then waved her over with a tablet he was holding as he began
walking away from the lift. “Call me
Scotty, or Sir, if you’d like. It
doesn’t really matter to me. Let me show
ye around.”

Akiko
nodded and followed her commanding officer deeper into engineering. A quick run around, showing her where
everything was, not just in
engineering but everywhere on the ship, led them to the transporter room.

“If
I’m too busy on the engineering deck, I might ask ye to come up here if
necessary,” he explained, gesturing toward the seat in front of the control
panel behind the glass through which they could see the beaming pad. “It may not come to that, but just in case,
I’ll show ye how to work it. It’s fairly
easy.”

Akiko
glanced around at the panel, wondering how it could be easy.

“Let’s
head back to engineering,” he suggested.
“We’ll be launching soon and I have to make a quick check-up on
everything down there.”

“Yes,
Sir,” she nodded and hurried after him as he headed out of the room and toward
the lift. As she entered and stood next
to him, she asked, “Do we know what our mission is yet, Sir?”

“We’re
transporting some survivors to New Vulcan,” he replied as the lift moved. “A captain and her crew. Apparently she’s a good friend of Commander
Spock’s.”

“Really?”
Akiko wondered, intrigued.

“Oh,
aye,” Scotty nodded, looking at his tablet and making adjustments on it. “She’s a survivor of…Old Vulcan. I’m sure you heard about what happened.”

“I
did,” Akiko nodded, solemnly.

“She
was off on a mission in the Messer System,” Scotty went on. “She started heading here when she heard what
happened. She and the Commander were
childhood friends, apparently. Her name
is T’Leia.”

The
lift stopped and when the doors opened, Scotty walked out, without looking up
from his tablet as Akiko followed him.

“Is
there anything you need me to do, Sir?” she wondered. “I can help you with that check-up you
mentioned earlier.”

“That
ye can,” he smiled, stopping and looking from his tablet up at her. “Alright, here’s what I want ye to do. Go around the panels on the top level and
give me the readings on everything vital.
Got that?”

“Aye,
aye, Sir!” Akiko grinned, saluting before she ran toward the stairs leading to
the upper level and Scotty chuckled at her before turning to do the same on the
lower level.

After
ten to fifteen minutes they met on the lower deck again and Akiko reported the
readings, panting from running around up there.
He told her what to fix and she bounded back up the stairs to obey. Another five minutes went by and they met
again.

“Readings all check out,
Sir,” she panted.

“You
might want to slow yourself down, lass,” Scotty smirked at her energy. “You’ll need your energy for later. Why don’t you go up to the bridge and watch
the launch?”

“Well,
I’d like to become a Science Officer,” Akiko smiled, swinging her feet as they
dangled off the desk. “Not on this ship, necessarily, but a Science
Officer nonetheless.”

“What
are you doin’ down here then?” Scotty
chuckled.

“I
haven’t had any hands on experience with engineering yet,” she shrugged,
cutely. “Who knows, maybe I won’t leave
and just stay here on the Enterprise as
your assistant. I wouldn’t mind that if you don’t.”

“I
hardly have such lovely company down here,” he smirked. “I don’t think I’d mind it a bit.”

“Kirk to engineering,” a voice suddenly
came from overhead. “How we doin’ Scotty? Everything ready for launch?”

“Aye,
Captain,” Scotty replied, swinging his legs off the desk as Akiko shot to her
feet as well. “Ready when you are—Get down
from there!”

Akiko
frowned at him then looked up at where he was looking. On one of the pipes, a little green Kolaran
was sitting on it, shaking his head at Scotty’s order. She couldn’t help but giggle at him, which
made Scotty give her a glare and she stifled the laughter threatening to come
out.

“Don’t
encourage him,” he grumbled, starting to walk past her and she followed. “That’s Keenser. He’s a climber, as you can see. Part of your job will be to get him down from there!”

The
last few words were directed at Keenser who hadn’t left his position on the pipe
and Akiko just nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

“You’d
better be ready for anything,” Scotty smirked, clapping her shoulder. “Enterprise is a
lovely ship.”

“So
I’ve heard,” Akiko smirked.

Lunch...

“Hope
ye don’t mind eatin’ with your commanding officer,” Scotty smiled as they both
sat down at a table with their food.

“Not
at all,” Akiko grinned, sitting across from him. “We can even talk ship if you like.”

They
both snickered at her pun and a second later Scotty was rambling on about the
aspects of the ship and engineering while she listened intently. He suddenly stopped and waved someone over
from behind her, making her frown and turn around. Her eyes widened and she immediately turned
back around to sit stalk straight, making it Scotty’s turn to frown.

“What’s
the matter, lass?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“That’s
the captain, isn’t it?” she whispered and he only nodded, still frowning.

“No
need to be formal, Sparky,” he smirked, using her nickname.

“How
dare you show up here before me,”
Jacqueline suddenly grinned, sitting next to her and making her jump.

“How’s
it going, Scotty?” Kirk smiled, slapping Scotty’s arm before sitting across
from Jacqueline, who gave a not so hidden sneer. “This place is swarming with new cadets.”
His eyes landed on Akiko who was still sitting straight as a board and
he smiled, charmingly. “You must be
Scotty’s assistant engineer, right?”

“Yes,
Sir. Akiko Suzuki, Sir,” Akiko nodded,
stiffly and Jacqueline frowned at her for a moment then poked her in the side,
making her give a small squeak and jump, turning a glare to the curly haired
girl.

“Loosen
up,” Jacqueline urged as Akiko looked her friend up and down, now noticing her
uniform was different from her own. An
ensign golden long-sleeved dress.

Smirking,
she couldn’t resist taking the shot, “I see they got you in dress.”

Jacqueline
glared back and sneered before starting to pick at Akiko’s food, which the
other girl pulled out of her reach.

“No,
I mean that’s cold from you,” Akiko
clarified but her friend just waved her off, trying to pull the skirt on her
gold uniform down, but it was in vain.

“Good
afternoon, Mr. Scott. Cadets.”

Akiko
and Jacqueline jumped at the sound of the monotone voice and the sudden movements
made Jacqueline fall from the bench and onto the floor with a grunt. She scrambled to her feet and collected
herself to stand at attention in front of Spock and an elegant looking woman
next to him as Scotty and Akiko tried to keep from laughing.

“H-Hello,
Commander,” Jacqueline sputtered, trying to cover her blunder but he was
looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Captain
T’Leia.”

“I
trust you haven’t hurt yourself, Ensign Fabian,” Spock said, and Jacqueline
shook her head. He then turned his attention
to Akiko as Jacqueline sat down, properly
this time. “You are Mr. Scott’s
assistant, are you not?”

“I
am, Sir,” Akiko replied, holding a hand out for him to shake. “Lieutenant Akiko Suzuki.”

Instead
of shaking her hand he only nodded and she hesitantly pulled her hand back as
Jacqueline scooted closer to her and shivered, whispering, “Did it just hit
fifty below?”

“Can
it, Jacque,” Akiko muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

“Captain
T’Leia, this is our Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott,” Spock began
introductions to the Vulcan captain with black hair like Spock’s and dark
eyes. Scotty waved and nodded, knowing
she wouldn’t take a hand shake. “And
these are two of our newest cadets, Ensign Jacqueline Fabian and Lieutenant Akiko
Suzuki.”

“Hello,”
the girls replied together then smiled at each other for a moment as T’Leia
nodded to each of them.

“Where
is your crew, Captain?” Jacqueline took the liberty of asking, then added, “If
you don’t mind my asking, of course.”

“Of
course not,” T’Leia replied in a monotone with a straight face. “They are all in the guest quarters. They would not wish to become a nuisance.”

“Nonsense!”
Kirk suddenly plopped on one side of Scotty, McCoy on the other. “They can roam the ship as they like,
Captain.”

“Thank
you, Captain,” T’Leia replied. “All the
same, they all wish to be amongst each other after what’s happened.”

Akiko
glanced at Jacqueline to see her reaction to his civility, but the ensign gave
a small sneer again, making Akiko sigh, silently in hopelessness.

“Thank
you, Captain,” T’Leia nodded, and she and Spock both sat, the Commander next to
Akiko with the Vulcan captain on the other side of him.

“I
trust everything is to your satisfaction, Captain T’Leia,” Spock told the
captain as Akiko looked at him out of the corner of her eye in surprise.

“Yes,
Commander, very much so,” the T’Leia nodded.
“Seeing how far you have gotten has been interesting. I knew you would excel in Starfleet.”

“Thank
you,” he nodded and Akiko and Jacqueline looked at each other in wonder. How could two people have such a monotone
conversation after seeing someone they hadn’t seen in a long time? Then again, neither one of them were Vulcan.

“Tell
me, Captain,” T’Leia requested. “Exactly
how long will it take us to get to New Vulcan?”

“Can’t
wait to get there, can you?” Kirk smirked over his food then became serious
again and replied, “Another day or so.
We’ll have you there before you can say, ‘Vulcan.’”

“Sir?”
T’Leia almost frowned.

“It
is a human expression,” Spock explained.
“It means, we will have you there quickly.”

T’Leia
nodded, but still seemed confused. To
her it was illogical that they could get her to New Vulcan before she could speak
a single word.

“Well,
back to work, I’m afraid,” Scotty said, standing with his tray and Akiko
followed. After putting their trays away
they came back to say good bye, Jacqueline getting up to walk with them as they
walked away.

“I
couldn’t stand being there with the
‘Captain’ and the Snowman,” she told Akiko once they were out of earshot of the
Mess Hall and making air quotes when she said Captain.

“You
know, you’re going to have to deal with the ‘Captain’ and Commander Spock if
you want to pilot this ship,” Akiko reminded her, mimicking her air quotes, and
Jacqueline only waved it off.

“I’m
confused,” Scotty chimed in with a frown as they stopped at the lift. “You have a problem with the captain?”

“Yes,
I do,” Jacqueline replied as they all entered the lift. “It’s too complex to get into.”

“She’s
jealous,” Akiko shrugged with a smirk and Jacqueline glared at her.

Jordan Young:
*ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS* Where to start? I don't know how to sum up this review, this story was absolutely sensational. Brilliant. Flawless. I loved every single bit of this story, it is truly amazing. I read this story in fifteen hours, it is magnificent. I loved everything about it, the p...

Hawkebat:
Playing both Kotor I & II and Swtor I found the story line interesting and it held me until chapter 35 Very good story and plot flow until then, very few technical errors. I felt that the main character was a bit under and over powered, as it fought for balance. The last few chapters felt too f...

_JosephJacobson_:
I don't understand why this has such low ratings. I really enjoyed it!I think that the whole idea behind the plot had something very special and that was something that I really enjoyed. It was new, unique. I think that some of the writing was a little strange in places but overall it made sense ...

Jean Tryon:
As a beta, I found this story outstanding!! Plot, grammar, phraseology, etc Rachel gives us it all. She takes the story into the future from where due South ends. She is an exacting and thoughtful author.

Schaelz:
I was intrigued from the second I started reading, and it kept my interest the whole way through. Chelsea has a way with words that will enchant you until the very end. She is very poetic with the way she mixes genres and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The main character is also very relat...

MavisMcQueen:
"To Live Again" is a well crafted, highly engaging, heart vibrating tale surrounding our favorite Elven King. The author will keep you engrossed until the very end and by that time you will feel so strongly for Clara and the other characters that you will never want it to end...like ever. Thrandu...

Hudson:
Your story was fantastic Erin! The Rising Sun was one of the first stories I read on Inkitt, and I have to say I don't regret the three to four days I spent pouring through the story.Probably the biggest strength I see in your writing is your characterisation of Eliana, Oriens, and the rest of th...

Prasino45:
Hi! I happen to see your updated chapter on FF.NET!It happened to be about you coming onto Inkitt with this story! I've been a fan for a while! I'm a scqualphie writer myself. I ship them HARD! Love this story! I'm gonna do a reread as you said you changed some things! Glad we both made the switc...